1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a catalyst including active particles, a method of preparing the catalyst, a fuel cell including the catalyst, an electrode including the active particles for lithium air battery, and a lithium air battery including the electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fuel cells are power generating cells that, for example, directly convert energy from a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen into electric energy. Fuel cells may continue to generate electricity unless an external supply of hydrogen and oxygen is interrupted, unlike general batteries, and the ability to directly generate electricity, which is distinct from existing power generating modes suffering from efficiency loss over multiple steps, may lead to efficiencies twice as high as those of internal combustion engines.
According to the types of electrolyte and fuel used, fuel cells can be classified as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs), or solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).
PEMFCs and DMFCs, which are power generating systems generating direct current (DC) electricity from electrochemical reactions between hydrogen or methanol and oxygen, may each include a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) with an anode to which reaction liquid or gas is supplied, a cathode, and a proton conducting membrane disposed between the anode and the cathode.
In the anode, protons are generated through oxidation of hydrogen or methanol, employing a catalyst. These protons pass through the proton conducting membrane and reach the cathode where the protons react with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst, thereby generating electricity. Thus, in fuel cells having such a structure as described above the role of the catalysts is crucial.
A PEMFC employs an amorphous carbon support with dispersed Pt particles both in the anode and the cathode. A DMFC uses Pt—Ru in the anode, and Pt in the cathode, which are used either in particulate form or dispersed in an amorphous carbon support.
Catalysts are a key contributing factor to the entire manufacturing cost of fuel cells, and may have a crucial effect on the mass production and commercialization of fuel cells. Therefore, there has been an increasing demand for the development of catalysts that exhibit high activity even with the use of a small amount thereof.